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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana

Cuba edges toward breakdown as power cuts and US meddling push society to brink

People illuminate themselves with their phones while playing dominoes on a Cuban street
Tensions have increased in Cuba as the US blockade continues. Photograph: Ramón Espinosa/AP Photo

When Cuba’s national grid collapses, as it did for the third time in 10 days on Tuesday, a collective groan spreads across its cities and people wonder, again, whether the island’s antiquated electricity system may soon become unrecoverable.

The 777-mile long Caribbean island of 9.5 million people has been sweltering under a six-month-long oil blockade imposed by the US, part of a pressure campaign to bring down its communist government. But the parlous state of Cuba’s infrastructure goes far further back.

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